Starting Over
by youcrazything
Summary: Something happens to Luke that causes him to reevaluate his relationships with the people in his life.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Starting Over

Disclaimer: Not mine... yada yada yada.

Summary: Something happens to Luke that makes him re-evaluate his relationships with the people in his life.

* * *

"Its gonna be a huge riot," Grace was telling Luke, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the opportunity of a little bit of rebellion. "You can come if you want." 

Luke looked apologetic, "I would but…"

"Ah, yes," Grace said, remembering his plans for the afternoon. "You've got a spelunking trip all planned."

Luke chuckled at her choice of words, as the little hole in the world he had discovered out by Harrison Woods with Friedman a few days back could barely be considered a cavern. At least, he was fairly sure it wasn't large enough for him going down to search it to be considered spelunking.

"I better never question your courage again," Grace teased lightheartedly, referencing the incident the previous week in which she had done just that. "Before I know it you'll be sky diving and bungee jumping the Grand Canyon or something."

"Very funny," Luke said, pulling her closer to him. "How about I swing by the protest after my cavern exploration?"

"I'll supply you with a sign," Grace grinned; glad he would be joining her after all. "And, hey, being covered in dirt might make the whole hippy thing work for you."

"Okay, okay," Luke said with a laugh. "I get it. Enough with the mocking. So I'm lame, but it's not everyday you find a cavern to explore."

"Just don't get buried alive or something," Grace feigned lightheartedness to cover the fact that she was worried by smacking his arm lightly.

Luke thought he might have caught a hint of concern in her voice, so he assured her, "I'll be careful, I promise."

Grace, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he obviously could tell she had been worried about his well being, said, "We have five minutes before class starts and we're talking about cave diving."

Luke smirked. "I think I can remedy that."

Grace rolled her eyes before letting him pull her towards him. As their lips met, her feeling of awkwardness was forgotten as she allowed herself to savor a few, short intimate moments with him.

* * *

Luke was pulling on his coat when Joan suddenly appeared next to him.

"Hey, where ya going?" she asked, peeking at the tools he was bringing with him to aid in his cavern exploring.

"I'm going to explore this small cavern I found out by the woods," Luke told her, eyeing her as she grabbed her coat. "You know, gather scientific data; see if there's anything of interest."

"Cool," Joan commented, sounding as if she really meant it. "Can I come?"

Luke thought to protest, but then decided she might actually be useful.

"Sure."

"Awesome," Joan said, with a slight squeal that made Luke wince slightly and wonder if he had made a bad decision.

Once they had reached the cavern, Joan peered down the hole in the ground.

"It looks… dirty," she observed, wrinkling up her nose.

Luke gave her a look, "You don't have to go down with me. You can just help me get down and back up. And if I happen to find anything, you'll completely miss out on account of being too girly to help."

Joan gave him a dirty look as he grinned cheekily at her and tied a final knot in his rope. Joan raised an eyebrow and watched as he tugged on it, testing its strength. With a shrug she sat on a nearby tree stump. All the Almighty had said was to spend some time with Luke for the day. Hadn't said a thing about going on some muddy excursion.

"Sounds good to me."

Luke looked at his sister curiously. She was being much more agreeable than usual. He inwardly laughed at himself and reasoned that she had probably just been bored out of her mind at the house and was glad to be out doing something. He wouldn't admit it, but he was actually glad for her company, even if she wasn't going to be any help.

Joan watched blankly as he lowered himself into the hole. She found herself wondering just exactly how far it went down. She stood from her makeshift seat and walked over to peer down into the hole. Luke had already reached the bottom and was looking around in wonder.

"It's huge!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking up the twenty feet or so at Joan.

"Don't wander too far, okay?" Joan yelled down to him, brow furrowed in concern.

Luke yelled back up to her not to worry and grinned to himself. Of the three women in his life who seldom showed that they cared for him, two had shown obvious concern all in one day.

_Should do risky stuff more often_, he thought before switching on his flashlight so he could see in the inky darkness that extended far beyond the opening.

After an hour of sitting around waiting for Luke to return, Joan was startled by the rope suddenly being ripped from its supporter and slithering down into the hole before she could even register what was happening. A short yell and a loud thud followed, and then there was nothing but eerie silence.

"Luke!" She called as she scrambled to the edge of the hole. She got down on her hands and knees and looked down to find her brother splayed out at the bottom, unconscious.

"Luke!" Joan cried out again, feeling helpless. Thinking fast, she searched through his gear haphazardly. Sure enough, there was a spare rope packed inside. She thanked G-d that her brother was so anal and quickly tied the rope to the supporter as well as she knew how. Praying for her klutziness to take a short hiatus, she carefully made her way down to where her brother had landed. Once she reached the bottom, she dropped to her knees in front of him and put her ear to his chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the steady thump of his heart and felt the rise and fall of his chest.

Not knowing what else to do, she shook him and called out his name repeatedly in a desperate attempt to wake him up. When it became clear he wasn't responding she lifted his head up into her lap, contemplating the climb up the cavern. There was no way she could carry his dead weight back up.

She became aware of a wetness against her fingers and pulled her hand away from the back of Luke's head to find her hand stained red with his blood. Her eyes widened and her panic grew as she lifted him up and found the source of the sticky liquid coating them both.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged her unconscious brother tightly against her. She felt utterly helpless; she couldn't wake him, and she definitely had no way to get them both out of the cavern. Just as she was imagining the worst case scenario, an idea occurred to her. She let go of Luke and reached into her jacket's pocket. Sure enough, she had her cell phone stuffed neatly inside the small space.

Nearly sobbing with relief, she quickly dialed 911 and scooped Luke back up on her lap as she anxiously waited for an answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Grace approached Harrison Woods, feeling a little creeped out to be there at night when it was so dark out. If he was still cave diving, she was going to kill him. One for not coming to the protest as promised and two for making her worry about him like she was.

She reached the hole in the ground that she assumed was the cavern he had been rambling about for the past few days. She saw Luke's supplies and the rope dangling down into the hole and shook her head; her anger rising.

_He is so dead._

She leaned over the hole and shouted, "Girardi!" No response. "Girardi! Get out here so I can kick your ass!"

Grace frowned as she received only the echo of her own voice against the walls of the cavern in response. It surely couldn't be so huge that he wouldn't have heard her. And, now that she thought of it, Luke wasn't stupid; he knew it wasn't a good idea to search the cavern at night.

Trying to ignore the concern that was quickly turning into panic, she whipped out her cell phone and quickly dialed the all too familiar number.

"Hi Grace," a very feminine voice answered softly.

"Joan?" Grace asked in confusion. "What are you doing with your brother's phone?"

There was a long pause on the other end.

"It's a really long story. Come on over and I'll explain everything."

"Where's the geek?" Grace asked impatiently.

"He, uh… he had a bit of an accident in the cavern," Joan said reluctantly, her voicing shaking slightly.

The panic swelled to an unbearable level in Grace as she said shortly into the phone, "I'll be right there."

-

Joan was waiting out on the porch when Grace arrived.

"So, what happened?" Grace asked, forgoing a greeting. Joan bit her lip in hesitation. "Start talking, Girardi."

"He was trying to come back up out of the cavern," Joan said, her voice cracking and tears welling up in her eyes as she relived that moment. "The rope… it didn't hold. He fell."

Grace clenched her teeth, trying to keep her own emotions down. "How bad is it?"

"He hit his head pretty hard," Joan continued. "There was so much blood."

She let out a shuddering breath, still overwhelmed by the memory of her brother knocked unconscious and bleeding.

"But he's going to be okay, right?" Grace questioned, her own voice cracking this time.

"Yeah," Joan sniffled, trying to compose herself. "G-d I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think…"

Grace sighed in relief. She was going to have to seriously hurt two Girardi's now for making her get so emotional.

"So, can I see him?" Grace asked, refusing to look Joan in the eye. It was bad enough her concern had already been in plain view. She found herself longing for the days when everyone thought she was heartless.

"Uh, yeah," Joan said slowly. She blocked Grace when she moved to go inside. "There's… there's one more thing."

Grace put her hands on her hips and looked at Joan expectantly.

"He's got… amnesia," Joan blurted, eyeing Grace nervously.

The panic that had gripped her earlier flared up inside of Grace, "What?"

"He doesn't remember ever moving to Arcadia or anything after," Joan continued, staring intently at a spot on the porch. "It's so weird, he remembers packing, and being in the car, but he can't remember ever being here."

Joan finally looked at Grace, who was staring at the taller girl, her jaw clenching as she processed this. Joan had never seen her look so upset over anything that didn't involve some kind of conspiracy or oppression.

"You can still see him," Joan rushed to assure her. "He just…"

"Won't remember me?" Grace finished, her eyes dropping to the ground.

Joan gave her friend a sympathetic look before silently leading her into the house where Luke sat with the rest of the Girardi's. Grace shuffled awkwardly on her feet as everyone looked over at her once she and Joan entered the room. Luke looked curiously at the newcomer, obvious interest written across his features. When Grace caught his eye, he looked down and promptly blushed.

"Luke, this is Grace," Joan introduced, looking back and forth between the two. "Don't be shy, you know her."

"Hi," Luke greeted shyly, despite what Joan had just said. "Sorry I don't remember you."

The apology was so sincere that Grace found herself blinking rapidly and clearing her throat so she wouldn't lose it in front of his entire family.

"Its ok, not your fault."

Kevin cleared his throat and nodded to his parents, "Why don't we let the youngins catch up?"

After a moment of uncomfortable silence Will and Helen nodded and followed Kevin out of the room.

Once they were gone Joan nudged Grace not so subtly in the ribs and gestured towards the empty space on the couch next to Luke. Grace glared at her, but complied anyways and took the seat. Joan put on her best fake smile and sat in front of them on the floor.

Grace leaned over to examine the now sewn up gash on the back of Luke's head.

"Ouch," she commented, a strange feeling of protectiveness coming over her.

Luke startled a little, "Uh, yeah, it's a little sore. Not too bad though."

Grace moved back fully into her seat, amazed at how flustered she made him. Had it been like that before? She was so used to the calmer and more collected Luke as of late to be sure.

A knock sounded from the front door and Joan jumped up from her spot on the floor.

"That's Adam," she explained. "I had him go to get the stuff that was left at the cavern."

Joan hurried off to answer the door, leaving Grace and Luke alone, several inches between them on the couch; inches which might as well been miles. She had once been an important fixture in his life, and now she was nothing more than a random stranger. The thought of how she could go from one to the other so quickly left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Joan seems really different," Luke commented, studying a pillow so he didn't have to look at the girl he was finding himself immensely attracted to.

"Well, to us you seem different," Grace pointed out. "It's all a matter of perception, I suppose."

Luke's eyes lit up, "Do you study Heisenberg?"

Grace laughed, "Only if listening to you ramble on about him non-stop counts as studying."

"Oh," Luke said, looking over at her curiously. He wasn't quite sure what to think of this girl yet. "Do we talk to each other often?"

Grace's face crumpled from her tiny smirk into a saddened expression. Luke watched helplessly as she fought down her reaction.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I can't imagine its fun to be forgotten. I wish I could remember…"

Grace forced a small smile onto her lips and, without thinking, put a reassuring hand on his leg. "It's alright, geek. Don't sweat it."

Luke tensed and gulped as goose bumps rose on his arms and the back of his neck at her touch. He was starting to wonder if maybe he had a huge crush on her. Then he marvelled at the fact that he didn't even know that much.

Grace quickly retracted her hand, "Uh…"

Adam and Joan came into the room just then, preventing any further awkwardness between the two blondes seated on the couch.

"Hey man," Adam greeted, his laid back nature putting Luke at ease for the moment.

"Hi," he replied, feeling relieved that someone was acting remotely normal around him. "Adam, right?"

"Cha," Adam nodded and adjusted his beanie. "Sorry about the amnesia and all."

Luke glanced briefly at the girl sitting next to him," Somehow I don't think I got the worst of it."

"Did Jane tell you anything about us?" Adam inquired, blissfully unaware how delicate the subject was to some people in the room.

"Jane?" Luke repeated, baffled.

"Nothing really," Joan replied for Luke, talking right over him. "Didn't want to overwhelm him, you know?"

"Joan, you aren't going to overwhelm me," Luke insisted, slipping easily into his annoyed brother tone.

Joan rolled her eyes. "You nearly had a heart attack when you looked in the mirror."

Luke looked embarrassed. "I've had time to process the whole situation."

"Short version?" Joan started, taking a breath so she could spew information out without pause. "Adam and Grace are our friends; she and Adam have known each other since they were three, and she is also your girlfriend."

Luke's eyes widened and he looked over at the blonde girl seated next to him then back at Joan.

"Really?" he directed at Grace, his eyes finding their way back over to her.

Grace shifted in her seat and directed her eyes on the floor. "Yeah."

_That would explain a lot_, Luke thought gleefully, giving her a small, shy smile


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I reference my other fic, Luke and Grace:Directors Cut, in this chapter. Just so no oneis like... hey, I read that somewhere else! She stoooole! Nope... all mine, I can do whatever I want with it. :p

Also, for some reason won't let me format the IM convos the way I want, so sorry bout them being all funky.

* * *

"And we meet here every morning?" Luke asked, looking around the small closet filled with dead animals. 

"And afternoons. And sometimes during lunch," Grace added as she fiddled with one of the numerous jars. "Whenever we can really."

Luke looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You like the privacy," he observed, studying this girl that had caught his attention in the instant he first saw her. Or, rather, the first time he remembered seeing her. "This is the only place you feel comfortable enough to relax and be yourself."

Grace looked away from the jar in her hands and over at him, eyebrow raised. Was she really that obvious?

"Pretty much. Good guess."

Luke looked sheepishly down at where her side rested comfortably against him.

"A conclusion reached based on observation, really."

Grace looked down at where their bodies touched as well, then back up at him.

"Does it bother you?"

Luke blushed slightly and gave her a shy smile, "Q-quite the opposite."

"You know," Grace said softly, her eyes falling to his lips. "Meeting here is usually intended for making out."

Luke's nervousness practically radiated off of him as he gulped. "Oh… heh… really. I… hadn't thought of that possibility."

As it was in the past, his nervous laugh and the way he shyly looked at her only served to make her want to kiss him even more. She found his boyish reactions incredible endearing and was starting to think she really didn't give a damn if he had amnesia or not. Luke stared at her, obviously mesmerized as she licked her now dry lips and looked him up and down.

It was easy to forget, with his seventeen year old body sitting here, that his mental maturity was stuck at fourteen. An age where a look like the one she had just given him would be enough to send his hormones into overdrive.

Luke stared at her with wide, innocent eyes and she knew then that she couldn't do this. She backed away so that they were no longer touching.

"I… um," she said, eyes downcast. "I shouldn't have…"

"No, its okay," Luke said hurriedly, tripping over his words. Grace looked back up at him and noticed his disappointment. She sighed and sat silently with him until the warning bell rang.

-

"So, you showed him the infamous biology closet?" Joan asked Grace with a smirk as they walked along the hallway.

"Yeah," Grace responded, giving the other girl an exasperated look. "But we didn't do anything. Feels too much like I'd be deflowering him."

"Deflowering?" Joan repeated, looking alarmed.

Grace made a face. "Girardi, get your mind out of the gutter. I just mean… G-d I'm dating a fourteen year old. Well, a guy who thinks he's still fourteen. You think I could get arrested for that?"

"Since when do you care about breaking the law?" Joan questioned, amused.

"Good point," Grace concurred. She sighed. "It's just weird. He looks the same, and you expect him to act the same, then he doesn't. It's totally confusing."

Joan raised an eyebrow slightly. Grace never rambled this much.

"Just give it time. There is a small chance that his memory loss is only temporary. And, if it isn't, you'll get used to it." Joan stopped to contemplate the possibility of him never regaining the memories he had lost. "We all will."

"Get used to it?" Grace repeated in disbelief. "Girardi, he doesn't even remember me. He has no idea who I am or anything about the past three years we've known each other."

"I know," Joan replied sadly. There was a moment of silence before she attempted to lighten the mood. "But you should have seen him re-meeting Friedman. I think he's a bit afraid of his 'buddy'."

Grace snorted in a vain attempt to appear amused, but Joan could tell she was still deeply troubled by the situation she had been cast into.

-

That night, Joan was on her computer when Luke came into her room.

"Hey," she said as she turned in her chair so she could talk to him. "What's up?"

Luke sat on her bed and looked around the unfamiliar room.

"What do you know about Grace and me?"

Joan let out a short, surprised laugh. "Oh wow. Well… not much."

"More than me," Luke reminded her with pleading eyes.

Joan tried to think back over the past couple of years, "Well, I know when you first got together you had some weird secrecy contract thing. Which she ripped up on your sixteenth birthday. And then kissed you. In front of me. Which by the way… ew!"

The corner of Luke's mouth quirked up slightly in amusement at his sister's disgust.

"Okay… and you guys hang out way to much in the biology closet. Which might not be such a great idea. Inhaling all that formaldehyde every day for the past however long…"

"So you don't know how long we've been together?"

Joan looked unsure as she made her best educated guess, "Maybe about two years?"

"And?" Luke prodded, needing more.

"And nothing. That's all I got." Joan shrugged, wishing she could be more helpful.

"That's it?" Luke asked, amazed that his own sister could know that little about his life. "That's all you know?"

"Yeah," Joan replied, giving him an apologetic look. "Grace would be the best and most reliable source to be getting this from."

"I barely know her," Luke said in frustration. "And from what I know of her, she's not a big fan of talking about her personal life or sharing her feelings."

"That's the thing, Luke," Joan countered. "You do know her. Probably better than anyone else. Some part of you has to know that."

"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?" Luke ran a hand through his hair, looking very, very lost.

"You have to talk to her. You two had a connection. That doesn't go away just because you can't remember the details. And don't just do it for you. Grace has been walking around like…" Joan stopped short of what she was going to say and realized it was absolutely what had indeed happened. "Like she lost her best friend."

"What do I say?" Luke pondered, still looking entirely unsure.

"I don't know," Joan admitted. "I guess you just have to play it by ear."

"I don't think this is something that's going to happen overnight," Luke deduced, resigning himself to the fact that he was stuck with this mess; he might as well make progress towards trying to clean it up.

"Probably not. But just do _something_," Joan told him. She gave him an unreadable look. "This didn't just happen to you."

Luke nodded before standing. "Thanks. You know, for listening."

Joan glanced at him as she turned back to her computer. "Door's always open."

Luke smiled at his sister's unusual kindness as he left the room and traveled back to his own, thoughts on what exactly he was going to say to Grace floating through his head. He spotted his computer and curiously turned it on. MSN automatically started once the computer had booted and an IM sprung up on his screen.

Are you talking to me? says

Hey, long time no see.

Luke cocked his head to one side in thought for a moment and typed in a reply.

Gravityboy says

Joan?

Are you talking to me? says

Yup. ;-) Now would be a good time to Grace, yes?

Before Luke could reply to her, another screen popped up in his way.

Jewtastic says

Luke, my man!

Gravityboy says

Friedman, right?

Jewtastic says

The one and only. So, how's the action with Polk?

Luke rolled his eyes, wondering why on earth he was friends with this sex-crazed maniac.

Gravityboy says

Non-existent

Jewtastic says

Sorry to hear that, man.

Luke was about ready to get of the IM service, as he was already fed up with talking to this guy. One last screen popped up just as he was about to sign out.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Hey, geek. I see your curiosity led you onto your computer.

Gravityboy says

Grace! You have no idea how glad I am that you're on.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Oh really? Why is that?

Gravityboy says

Friedman keeps asking about my sex life…

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Fun. Kind of like shoving hot pokers into your eyeballs.

Gravityboy says

Sounds like an accurate analogy.

Luke paused a moment before slowly typing in and sending another message.

Gravityboy says

That's not the only reason I'm glad you're on.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Oh?

Gravityboy says

I wanted to talk to you.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

What about?

Gravityboy says

Us.

There was no answer for several minutes, and Luke thought maybe he had over stepped his bounds. He sighed, and started to type an apology. He was midway through it when she finally responded.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Oh….

Gravityboy says

I asked Joan what she knew, but that turned out to be next to nothing.

Gravityboy says

So I was hoping you could help me out a little here.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

There's not much to tell

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

We knew each other, you sucked me into the evil world of dating, and here we are now. End of story.

Gravityboy says

C'mon, **Joan **gave me more than that.

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

What do you want me to say? Stuff happened. It's not like you need a play by play.

Gravityboy says

What if I never get my memories back?

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Okay, so then you don't remember, whatever, we'll deal with it.

Luke rested his chin in his hand, wondering how he was going to get anywhere if she was going to be so difficult.

Gravityboy says

I feel weird discussing this here. Can we meet?

BLACKWIDOW-4-U says

Yeah, okay. See you in twenty outside your house.

-

Luke sat on the porch, looking around at the foreign front yard he was seated in, while he waited for Grace. It was amazing to him that one small accident in a cavern could lead to him not even recognizing his own home. At the same time, however, it filled him with a sadness that no amount of support from his family; which they had been giving him by the gallons; could fix. They couldn't know what it was like to wake up and be in a completely different time and place from where you remember being only seconds ago. They could never know what it was like to be standing right next to someone you felt in your gut was someone you could share your deepest secrets with, but to look at them and see a complete stranger.

They heavy clunk of combat boots stopping in front of him pulled Luke from his train of thoughts, and he looked up to see the owner of them. They shared a silent greeting, and he scooted over so that Grace could sit next to him on the wooden step.

"I know you don't want to talk about any of this," Luke started, searching the stars with his eyes. "But I just… I need something."

Grace watched him, feeling brave enough to look at him; really look at him and take him in; as he was not looking back at her.

"I get it," she said, playing idly with the zipper on her leather jacket as she looked down to her lap. "You need something solid to understand what exactly we're supposed to be."

Luke turned away from the stars and faced her, his long legs bent to lean sideways against the stairs.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he told her, smiling fondly at her. How was it she had managed to capture his heart in the span of only days? He found himself having to correct that thought. It hadn't been days. It had been years; years that no matter how he tried to logic his brain into telling him his history, he could never remember.

"I have no idea what to tell you," Grace admitted, eyes focused intently on her zipper. _Up. Ziiip. Down. Ziiiip._ How could she possibly tell him every last detail of what got them; and kept them; together? How could she possibly convey everything he had been for her; everything she felt for him?

"Well, you could start with how we met," Luke suggested, interested to know how this amazing girl had come into his life.

Grace laughed despite herself, "I nearly sent glass shards flying into your eyes."

Luke looked at her, confused. She clarified, "That's how we met. I knocked over something in AP Chem and made you bleed."

"You injure me and we end up dating?" Luke found himself laughing as well.

Grace looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I didn't _mean_ to."

"How long after that did we get together?" Luke asked, finding himself intrigued by their seemingly insane story.

Grace shrugged. She had never been one to keep track of dates. "About a year later."

"Wow, we must have been really unsure how it would work out," Luke mused. He gave her a mischievous smile. "With the abuse and all that."

Grace rolled her eyes good naturally. "You had to stop acting like such a dork and I had to get over myself. Those things take a while. Plus there was the whole thing with the ostrich."

Luke's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "There was an ostrich?"

Grace laughed at his bafflement and settled down to a more comfortable position as she began to elaborate the finer details of how they, a rebel and a geek, ended up together.


	4. Chapter 4

Joan appeared suddenly at Grace's side as she dug through her locker, startling her.

"Did you talk to Luke last night?" Joan asked, ignoring the look Grace gave her.

"Yeah, I did. I hear it was inspired by you," Grace replied, shoving her jacket into the locker.

"It needed to be said," Joan insisted. "So, how was the talking?"

"Weird, yet strangely not," Grace answered honestly. She glanced at Joan. "Why am I telling you this?"

"Because I'm your friend," Joan said without missing a beat, as if it were the most obvious thing on the face of the planet. "What did you guys talk about?"

"Stuff I'm not going to repeat," Grace said, slamming her locker door shut before she walked away. Joan chased after her, right on her heels.

"Grace, Luke really needs your support right now," Grace kept walking as if she hadn't even noticed the other girl following her. "Just… don't turn around and shut him out now that you guys have reconnected a bit." Grace took a sharp turn around a corner and Joan scrambled to follow suit. "Look, Me, Adam, and even normal Luke can handle these up and downs or whatever they are, but Amnesia!Luke? Not so much."

Grace stopped short and spun to face Joan.

"Thanks for the lecture Dr. Girardi," she mocked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to ditch him or whatever the hell you were rambling about just now."

"Were you even listening?" Joan asked in annoyance, hand on hip.

"You tend to go on and on," Grace told her, turning to continue walking. "I zone."

Joan studied her friend for a moment before rolling her eyes. At least she knew her brother wasn't in danger of getting his heart yanked around; he had enough to deal with and she wanted to spare him the suffering.

-

Luke's attention quickly drifted from what Glynis was saying to the front of the room as Joan and Grace entered. They snarked back and forth as they walked to the back of the room and Luke turned in his chair as he followed Grace with his eyes. Grace smirked at something Joan said, and then noticed the attention she was getting. She seemed uncomfortable for a moment, but then she gave him a lopsided, tiny smile accompanied by a cute little wave. He mimicked her greeting and turned back to the front of the class, his smile not fading from his lips.

Joan and Adam shared a look, clearly thinking the same thing. _Well, this is new_.

Grace couldn't seem to get her smile to stay down either as she watched Luke. Suddenly, she was smacked in the arm by something. She jumped a little in her seat and turned to face Joan.

"What?" she asked, rubbing her arm in displeasure.

"If you weren't so busy checking out my brother," Joan started, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Grace glared at her. "Then you would have heard me ask if you did the homework."

"No, I didn't," Grace replied in annoyance. "And there was no checking out. I was… spacing. Won't happen again. Wouldn't want to steal Rove's favorite pastime."

"Hey," Adam whined, pretending to be offended. "Rove is sitting right here."

Joan giggled and Grace tried her best not to look at Luke for the entire class period. She wasn't about to be accused of checking anyone out again.

-

"Hey," Luke greeted cheerfully as he caught up with Adam in the hall after class.

"Hi," Adam replied, albeit after a long pause. After all, he and Luke didn't talk much.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to, you know, hang out tonight. Go to the arcade or something."

"Jane and Grace want to go to the arcade?" Adam asked in utter confusion.

"Uh, no," Luke said, scratching his head. "I meant just us guys."

Adam nodded dumbly and still looked lost.

"Honestly, Friedman freaks me out," Luke admitted seriously, earning a chuckle from Adam. "And you're the only other guy I know. I think. I mean, we are friends, right?"

Adam wasn't so sure he and Luke could be classified as friends per se, but he felt bad for the guy, so he replied, "Totally. We can do that. I haven't been to the arcade in ages."

"Meet you there at 7?" Luke asked with a grin.

"Sure thing," Adam replied, smiling a little as Luke walked away with a farewell wave over his shoulder.

-

"So, that whole talking thing last night didn't completely suck," Grace said as she leaned up against the lockers next to Luke's after school.

"Good to know," Luke commented, amused.

"If you want, we don't have to, but I'm cool with it…I mean, I don't really care, but," Luke raised an eyebrow at her ramblings. Grace collected herself with a deep breath. "We could do it again sometime."

Luke smiled softly down at her, "I'd like that."

"Awesome," Grace said, trying to conceal her relief that he shared her interest. "We could meet tonight after dinner…?"

Luke winced, "I would, but I kind of made plans already."

"Oh," Grace said, trying not to sound disappointed. "Going over to Friedman's? Feel free to smack him if he tries offering you porn or drugs… again." Luke gave her a strange look. "Long story."

"Okay," Luke said, storing that bit of information away for future use. "Good to know, but I'm actually going to the arcade with Adam."

Grace's jaw all but hit the floor. "You and Rove are hanging out? Together? Alone?"

Luke shut his locker and gave her a slightly hurt look. "Is that so shocking?"

"Well… yeah," Grace replied, still looking quite shocked.

"I figured it was something we did," Luke told her confused. "Friedman is too disturbing to be my only friend I hang out with and Adam and I seem to get along fine…"

Grace realized she had upset him and sighed, "You do. I guess. Not really recently, but…"

She closed her eyes at her horrible attempt at comforting him. Luke looked at her pensively.

"What do you mean, not lately?"

Knowing she set herself up for this one, she settled on the truth, "Your sister and Rove dated for a while. He cheated on her."

"Oh," was all Luke could say as he contemplated that golden nugget of information everyone had so nicely forgotten to mention. He sighed heavily. "Should I just cancel the arcade thing?"

"Dude," Grace said, feeling bad for dragging him down from the good mood he had been in. "If you want to hang out with Rove, hang out with Rove. Just because you haven't in the past doesn't mean you can't now. I was just… surprised."

"I just … want to fit into my own life," Luke confessed helplessly, leaning back against the lockers. "Is that too much to ask?"

Grace, used to being extra affectionate when he was down, stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his one and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"You do."

Luke looked down at the girl sidled up next to him and smiled with renewed giddiness.

"And here I thought you were all anti-PDA," he commented, not trying in the least to mask how much he liked the attention. "And weirded out by my situation."

Grace's eyes widened slightly and she abruptly let go of him. "I am. Just…easy to forget. About the situation."

"What about the other thing?" he questioned in a near whisper. She had let go of him, but had not backed away, so that meant she was so was so close they nearly were still touching. He could feel the unmistakable tension between them and wanted nothing more than to be the Luke she remembered, the Luke he was still trying to get to know himself.

Grace struggled for an answer. "Comfort, I guess."

She would completely break her own rules, if only to get to see him smile when he was down in the dumps. And now she had just admitted that to him, out loud. She, for once, didn't avoid his eyes, and instead stared into them with uncharacteristic shyness.

"I see," Luke said, not taking his eyes off hers even as he shut his locker and leaned against it. Grace had to keep reminding herself he was not her Luke; not really. Definitely not the one she could drag off to the biology closet for a snog whenever she pleased.

"C'mon, brain drain, you going home or what?" Joan asked impatiently as she appeared in front of them. The couple practically jumped apart and turned to face Joan. "Am I interrupting something?"

Grace frowned at the suggestive raise of Joan's eyebrow. "No, of course not."

"Mmkay," Joan said, clearly not believing her for a second. She turned her attention back to her brother. "You coming or not, lover boy?"

Luke gave his sister a look. "Yeah, I'm coming." He flashed a smile at Grace. "Later."

"We'll do that thing tomorrow," she added before he could walk away.

"Sounds like a plan," he affirmed. There was a long moment of staring between the two blondes before Grace cleared her throat, said goodbye, and made a quick exit.

"Oooh," Joan teased as Luke fell in step with her. "What thing is this?"

Luke rolled his eyes, "We're just hanging out. Talking and stuff."

"Talking, huh?" Joan needled, giggling at the young lover's expense.

"When did you get such a corrupted mind?" Luke joked, giving his sister a light shove. "Besides, this whole situation is too weird for all parties involved. Too weird for me and Grace to have… whatever we had before."

"Don't worry about it too much," she assured him once she noticed the serious note his voice had taken on. "This might just be a blessing in disguise."

He gave her an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," Joan shook her head. "I mean, for starters, you're coming to your senses about having Friedman as a friend…"

"Ha, ha," Luke deadpanned, un-amused.

"No, really," Joan insisted. "He even tried to hit on me once. Although, it was after _you_ told him I was having sex with Adam," Joan shot the younger boy a dirty look.

Luke stopped in his tracks. "What!

"Which I wasn't!" Joan quickly added. "I swear."

Luke continued walking, "Thank G-d."

"Anyway," Joan said, pushing her way through the school's entrance. "I think all this talking is an improvement for you and Grace."

"You think we don't usually talk?" Luke asked, looking thoughtful.

"I think you talk," Joan said slowly, measuring her words. "This whole amnesia thing just puts you in a situation to talk about your relationship. I mean, that's a good thing, right?"

Luke nodded after a moment. "I think it just might be."

"Not that I don't want you to get your memories back," Joan was quick to add, not wanting to give the wrong impression. "Because I do. I'm just saying it's an opportunity to take a different perspective on your life. And that can be helpful."

"You know," Luke said after a quiet moment of reflection. "You're very different from the Joan I remember."

Joan smiled. "Yeah? How so?"

"Well, you're nicer. And you have way better friends. And you've become all mature and wise," Luke admitted honestly before pulling a face. "It's scary."

Joan thwacked him in the chest playfully. "Shut up, geek."

"Some things, however," Luke added with a grin. "Will never change."

-

Luke looked surprised as he won the shooting game he and Adam were playing for the third time in a row.

"I seem to be really good at this," he mused.

"Cha," Adam agreed, putting the plastic gun back in its holster. "You handed me my ass."

Luke laughed. "Want to try something else?"

"We could go for the Turtles game," Adam suggested, gesturing over to said game. "Grace was always better at it, but I remember it being fun."

They started the game up and Luke glanced at Adam before speaking.

"Have you ever been in love?" Luke asked, all the while keeping his eyes on the screen of the game.

A pained expression crossed Adam's face before he replied, "Yes."

"Joan?" Luke asked, even though he was already sure he knew the answer.

"Guess Grace told you, huh?" Adam said tensely, jerking his controller roughly.

"Yeah," Luke confirmed, eyes darting over to the other boy once more.

"How much did she tell you?" Adam asked, his jaw clenching as the shame of his betrayal came back yet again to slap him in the face.

"Enough," Luke replied simply. When Adam only aggressively jerked his controller about a couple more times, Luke continued. "Look, my sister seems to have forgiven you. I don't have a problem. Well, okay, maybe a little." Adam looked warily over at the taller boy. "But I'm not going to let it be an issue. I didn't even mean to bring it up."

"Then why did you?" Adam asked harshly. Luke brushed off the boy's slight abrasiveness and got to his real point.

"I was hoping you could tell me what it feels like," Luke received only a blank look from Adam and clarified. "Being in love."

"Oh," Adam said as he caught on. "I guess it's different for everyone, but…" He trailed off, eyes glazing over as he remembered a distant past. "It's like she's the only girl in the world. When you're with her, nothing else matters. Hell, the whole world could be ending and you'd never notice, not for a minute, as long as you're with her. And every time you see her its like it was for the first time. You're nervous and excited all at once and all you can do is hope that she feels even the tiniest bit of the same way about you." Adam shook himself from his memories. "Something like that, I guess."

Luke took a moment to respond. "I think I was… am in love with Grace. I think I might have known for sure but, obviously I can't remember anymore."

"That's rough, yo," Adam commented sympathetically. "Sometimes I wish I could forget parts of my life. Now I'm not so sure."

"Better to remember it, good and bad, then to not know anything about yourself or the people around you," Luke told him solemnly.

They finished the game a minute later and Luke cocked his head to the side to look at Adam.

"I seem to be having all these big, important conversations with people. Joan must be right about viewing life from a different perspective."

"Cha, she's usually right about that kind of stuff," Adam agreed. "It's like her gift, yo."

-

Joan was just starting up a movie when there was a knock at the door. She grumbled a bit, but got up of the couch anyway and went to the door. She opened it to see Grace standing restlessly on the other side.

"Grace, I thought you'd be with Luke," Joan said, confused. She stepped aside so the blonde girl could come in.

"He didn't tell you?" Grace asked, amused smirk appearing on her face. "He and Rove are at the arcade. Hanging out."

"You're kidding," Joan exclaimed as she gaped at her friend.

"Nope," Grace grinned. "Now that's gotta be interesting."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Joan asked, a glint of mischief in her eye.

"If it doesn't involve feeding and entertaining me, I doubt it."

Joan rolled her eyes emphatically. "We should go to the arcade. Crash the boys' night out. Whatever that's about."

"I don't know if that's a great idea, Girardi. Your brother was pretty set on having some quality guy time with Rove," Grace pushed, not wanting to upset him like she had earlier.

"Oh c'moooon," Joan whined relentlessly. "They won't mind. Maybe we can convince them to do something way less lame then hanging out at the arcade; Coz…ick."

Grace's hands went up in defeat. "Okay, okay. Just stop whining. _Please_."

Joan grinned ear to ear and dragged a grumbling Grace out the door.


End file.
